Tons of Teeth!

In these pictures you can get a pretty good idea of all the teeth that Emma has now. She has four on the top, all poking through at least a little bit. On the bottom, the fourth one looks like it is just about to poke through.

What in the world can you do with all those teeth?

Eat your first double cheeseburger, of course!

(Emma did not eat the whole thing, nor is McDonalds normally part of her diet!)

Emma LOVES music

Completely unprompted. She just likes music.

Where did we go?

I know it has been a while since we've updated - I'm sorry!

Last week ended up being really packed. The worst part was that I got a nasty head cold that knocked me out until. Yesterday was the first day that I felt back to normal, and even then I've still been getting worn out quickly. We were dog and house sitting for our friends for several days last week while they were in the hospital having a baby! Emma enjoyed playing with their dogs, and we made the trip down to Dover to visit them Thursday evening and meet little Kellen!

Friday night we drove to Baltimore very late because Martin was leading our small group meeting for church. We arrived in Ellicott City a little before midnight! My birthday was Saturday and I started it off by getting a hair cut with Chrissy, who has been cutting my hair for a good 15 years or so. Martin surprised me by getting together with my parents to have extra family come to celebrate my birthday and have lunch. Oma, Martin's mom, my cousin Jen and her husband Joel and my aunt and uncle all were able to come. And Sarah and Becca called to say hi too!

Our snow is starting to disappear, thanks to a ton of rain yesterday and today. Spring may just be on its way!

Growing up

Emma is starting to look older. Maybe it's the hair, maybe it's that her face is losing that 'baby' look.


And her expressions are taking on her own little personality, too.

Fun Foods

We've had some fun things to eat while snowed in the last few days. Emma enjoyed her first taste of ice cream - which she loved!

Even before the first bite, she knew it was something special...

and just couldn't wait!

Saying "please" and waiting patiently

Big girl!

And then enjoying some homemade Cinnamon sugar bagels (more on that later!)

A favorite pasttime: shopping at Rite Aid

I know its a little weird, but let me explain. I was so excited when I went to Rite Aid on Monday because I had a killer plan that I had been sitting on since Thursday when my circular arrived. I got everything in this picture (6 cans of Pringles, Dove men's body wash, 4 AA rechargeable batteries and charger, 20 pack of dishwasher detergent, and pack of diapers)

for $3.22 plus I'm going to receive $10.50 in rebates and $15 as a Visa Check Card. That's a profit of over $22 plus all of that merchandise!

Wondering how I managed it? Well, this was an unusually amazing trip to Rite Aid, mainly because I had a $20 gift certificate to use (which I earned back in December for certain purchases at Rite Aid). I also had over $13 in coupons and many of the things I purchased were eligible for rebates that Rite Aid offers.

I guess its a weird hobby, but I love it! More details about how to get great deals at Rite Aid are on my blog Thrifty Living.

My little helper

Yesterday morning was such a fun time with Emma -- she helped me to a load of laundry! That's quite an accomplishment for someone who just turned 1 a few weeks ago.

Emma pushed the laundry basket down the hall while I pulled it. She sat on the floor and pulled clothes out and then handed them to me to put in the washer. I laid the hamper down so she could reach better, and she nearly crawled in! After all the clothes were in the washer, she enjoyed watching the water come in and the clothes spin around inside (we've got a great window that is just at her eye level). When the clothes were done in the washer, she helped me pull them out to put in the dryer.

I'm so thankful for mornings like yesterday. It was a great moment, and totally unprompted by me. I cant wait to see what else God will do in Emma's heart to grow her desire to help others!

Linking up to Chatting at the Sky.

Fun in the Snow

We had a great time on Saturday playing outside with the Johnstons. Emma still has way more fun being held than being in the snow.

Staying warm with Daddy:
Even sitting on my lap while I was sitting on the snow was hard to get her to want to do at first.

We were able to borrow our neighbor's snow tubes and enjoyed tubing down the hill in our backyard. The snow piled up by the plows created a natural barrier with the road. The little guys traveled down the hill faster than we anticipated, and David almost went over the snow pile the first time down! We wised up though, so either Dave or Martin stayed at the bottom to catch David and Owen as they flew off the tube at the end of the hill!

Martin took Emma inside while I stayed out a little longer. Emma enjoyed watching from inside and waving way more than being in the snow!

Its beginning to look a lot like Alaska!

We thought the snow we got back in December was a big deal...until the blizzard hit Friday night! It is impressive to be sure. We got about 30 inches by the official estimates, and everywhere in the Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey band of snow got at least 2 feet!

The snow stopped late in the afternoon yesterday, so Martin and I ventured out to shovel a little and take a look at the snow.

Our front door:


Sitting on top of the snow we shoveled out of the driveway. Since it was such a wet snow it packed down fairly easily.


We've had a plow come through a couple of times and standing on top of it I was level with our bedroom windows.



Emma was taking her nap while we were outside, so we had some fun playing with her after she woke up.



Then, after dinner, Emma was walking around in the living room and went over to her coat and scarf and started carrying them around with her. It seemed like she wanted to go outside, so we bundled her up and took her out to look at some of the snow.

Today we are looking forward to taking her out in the snow and seeing if we can get her to enjoy playing a little!

Emma's photo album

For Christmas, Becca gave Emma a photo album filled with pictures of family and friends. This is so that Emma can see their pictures and hopefully will better remember different people, even though she doesn't get to see many of them very often.

The last few days Emma has been very attached to this book. She carries it around with her, then sits down to flip through the pages.


She's really into the pictures.

And apparently studies very intently!

Thank you so much, Becca!

Peek-a-boo

Emma loves to play peek-a-boo now.


Its a pretty fun game. Or at least she looks really cute doing it :-)

Emma's new signs

Emma has really taken off in the last few weeks on the number of signs that she can do. Her newest ones include milk:

Cheese:

Music, Eat (food), and Diaper

She also understands the word ball (we will ask her where the ball is and she will pick it up).

Emma has also started signing a few basic sentences. She does "more, please" while eating. She will sign "more food" and point to the food that she wants.

We are so pleased with how well she is doing with the signs, and the really cool thing is that we can communicate with her so much more now, even with just these few words.

She's pretty pleased with herself too!

Sally Jenkins on the Tebow Super Bowl Ad

A recent post by Justin Taylor linked to this article: Sally Jenkins on the Tebow Super Bowl Ad. Jenkins is a pro-choice columnist for the Washington Post writing about the pro-life ad that will appear during the Super Bowl featuring college football Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and his mother.


The final two paragraphs:

Let me be clear again: I couldn't disagree with Tebow more. It's my own belief that the state has no business putting its hand under skirts. But I don't care that we differ. Some people will care that the ad is paid for by Focus on the Family, a group whose former spokesman, James Dobson, says loathsome things about gays. Some will care that Tebow is a creationist. Some will care that CBS has rejected a gay dating service ad. None of this is the point. CBS owns its broadcast and can run whatever advertising it wants, and Tebow has a right to express his beliefs publicly. Just as I have the right to reject or accept them after listening -- or think a little more deeply about the issues. If the pro-choice stance is so precarious that a story about someone who chose to carry a risky pregnancy to term undermines it, then CBS is not the problem.

Tebow's ad, by the way, never mentions abortion; like the player himself, it's apparently soft-spoken. It simply has the theme "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life." This is what NOW has labeled "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning." But if there is any demeaning here, it's coming from NOW, via the suggestion that these aren't real questions, and that we as a Super Bowl audience are too stupid or too disinterested to handle them on game day.

(emphasis mine)